Secret
by alisonkim428
Summary: Peeta Mellark has loved Katniss Everdeen since they were five years old. He kept that secret from her till they were sixteen. One shot.


**This is both Katniss and Peeta's POV, describing their first day of school, then a little bread throwing and the reaping, but I'm focusing on the first day. One shot, tell me how you like it!**

**I got the song lyrics from PumpkinsAtTheDisco's YouTube video, go and check it out: ?reason=8&rdm=3490#/watch?v=-vU7B69Y-cA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-vU7B69Y-cA**

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"Bye daddy!" A little girl in a red plaid dress yelled, her two braids whipping her in the back. Mr. Everdeen waved back to his five-year old daughter as he headed separate ways.

"See that little girl?" Mr. Mellark asked his young son, Peeta, pointing to a pretty girl his age, who was waiting in line with her father. He nodded, not sure what his father was prepared to say. He just wanted to go to recess and go draw on the sidewalk with Delly, his best friend.

"I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner," His father said, a hint of sadness in his voice as the line moved. Peeta gasped. _A coal miner_? Why a coal miner, when her mother could have had bread for her whole life? It might have been cold, stale bread, but it was still food.

"A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?" Peeta's small voice asked, waiting for an answer.

"Because when he sings.. even the birds stop to listen," His father replied, squeezing Peeta's little hand. They moved up in the line until it was their turn, Peeta still wondering why Mrs. Everdeen would pick a man's voice, versus food.

Later that day, the teacher asked, "Who would like to teach us the Valley Song?" Without thinking, Katniss' hand shot straight up into the air, hoping to get picked. She only hoped she was as good as her father was. "Katniss, how about you go up and sing for us?" The teacher said.

"Oh okay," Katniss' body shook as she sat upon the light wooden stool, and opened her mouth to sing the words of the song her father had taught her in the woods.

_"The Grass Blades dance to the winds reverie _

_Calling from the cresent moon, to the east born sea_

_the valley dreams up the sleepers that lost_

_and hidden there you'll find me_

_I'll follow you_

_to the valley_

_may we rest our heads_

_in respect_

_breathe deep the air of the earth will_

_cloathe you_

_in falling oceans planting gardens where she'll sing_

_And hidden there you'll find_

_I'll follow you _

_to the valley_

_may we rest our heads _

_in respect_

_Harm me gently _

_harm me gently_

_harm me gently_

_will you? _

_I follow you _

_to the valley _

_may we rest our heads_

_in respect."_

Silence soon followed as she finished the song, and she trembled slightly, now wishing she hadn't sung. But as soon as she hopped off the stool to take her seat back on the dusty yellowed carpet, she got a standing ovation.

Peeta's crystal blue eyes looked at her in wonder, now understanding why Mrs. Everdeen had picked a coal miner rather than a merchant baker. That was the day Peeta fell in love with her.

"You were amazing!" Peeta complimented as she walked by herself during recess, completely forgetting about his plans with Delly. Katniss nodded, embarrassed that he still remembered about her singing. Even at five years old, Katniss knew that there was an invisible barrier between Townsies and Seam people. They didn't interact unless there was trade, and some Towns people didn't even take food that was so called, "_tainted_" by the poor.

After that day, Peeta Mellark watched Katniss walk home everyday. He secretly did though, he didn't want his mother knowing. She would have surely beat him. He wanted Katniss to be safe, so he watched her until she entered the Seam. Years went on and suddenly he began seeing a little blonde girl with blue eyes walking with Katniss, holding her hand. Then another couple years went on and a tall boy walked with her. He still didn't stop watching her walk home.

He threw the bread to her skinny body when they were eleven, saving her life.

She didn't understand why he did what he did, giving her bread, but a small part of her trusted him for it, no matter how much she refused it.

When he was called up to the stage for the seventy-fourth reaping, he was almost happy.

Because he was going to do whatever it took to save the love of his life, Katniss Everdeen.

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**My feelings. I like writing one-shots when I have writing block. Please review!**


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